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Shadow, Sword & Spell: Expert
Shadow, Sword & Expert builds upon the rules found in Basic. In Basic, you created your character. You have braved numerous dangers, made many enemies, and probably killed a few of your foes as well. You have gone from not having any or little influence or prestige, to now being a person of renown or infamy. You have survived the trials and ordeals before you.
Through your wits, guile, and fortitude, you have fought back the hordes of unholy terror. You have saved countless men and women from the bonds of slavery. You have discovered hidden treasures, long forgotten tombs, and tomes of arcane knowledge. You have become a hero, an outlaw, even a thorn in the side of the powers that be. Your trials have prepared you, and now, you are ready to inscribe your name in the rolls of history. The world will feel your justice. Your enemies will know your vengeance. Those with the power will now have no choice but to share it with you. You will be a king, and the dynasty you found will endure for centuries.
Shadow, Sword & Expert answers the What s next? Your hero has grown in power, and now they are ready to tame the world. Building upon the rules found in Basic, Expert adds new opportunities for your game. What you will find here are new options and rules that you can use to expand your current Shadow, Sword & Spell game, as well as allow you to run games grander in scope.
Written by Richard Iorio II (Colonial Gothic) and powered by 12°, Shadow, Sword & Spell has everything you need to run games inspired by the greatest pulp writers of our time.
Through your wits, guile, and fortitude, you have fought back the hordes of unholy terror. You have saved countless men and women from the bonds of slavery. You have discovered hidden treasures, long forgotten tombs, and tomes of arcane knowledge. You have become a hero, an outlaw, even a thorn in the side of the powers that be. Your trials have prepared you, and now, you are ready to inscribe your name in the rolls of history. The world will feel your justice. Your enemies will know your vengeance. Those with the power will now have no choice but to share it with you. You will be a king, and the dynasty you found will endure for centuries.
Shadow, Sword & Expert answers the What s next? Your hero has grown in power, and now they are ready to tame the world. Building upon the rules found in Basic, Expert adds new opportunities for your game. What you will find here are new options and rules that you can use to expand your current Shadow, Sword & Spell game, as well as allow you to run games grander in scope.
Written by Richard Iorio II (Colonial Gothic) and powered by 12°, Shadow, Sword & Spell has everything you need to run games inspired by the greatest pulp writers of our time.
248 pages, Paperback
First published March 17, 2011
2 people want to read
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January 19, 2015
Ring Side Report- RPG Review of Shadow, Sword & Spell: Expert
Originally posted at Throat Punch Games, a new idea everyday!
Product- Shadow, Sword & Spell: Expert
System- 12*
Producer- Rogue Games
Price- ~$5.25 here
TL; DR- A textbook splat book example! 97%
Basics- How about some more Shadow, Sword & Spell? Now ON EXPERT MODE! Expert is the truest definition of a splat book. It's just more of the stuff you want for your S, S&S game. Expert adds rules for everything from managing a kingdom to making new monsters. Expert also adds to the world and expands on the places you can conquer, explore, and control.
Mechanics or Crunch- This book is crunch-tastic. Honestly most of the book is new subsystems to add to your game. These are not mandatory subsystems, but they are ones your GM would have to custom build on the fly if, say, you wanted to tax your fiefdom and raise an army to go conquer your neighbors. Now, these are all the d12 mechanics we know and love from Basic, but now you have a set in stone from the designer's rules for how to do it. Also, rules for monster generation are really useful. 5/5
Theme or Fluff- Expert is larger than Basic, and Basic has to explain how to play the game! That said Expert explains the rest of the world and has maps. I loved how Basic had a world to play in. And now I love that Expert makes the world truly a world. It even expands on all the fiddly bits of the world. It's not down to the level of favorite fish of a region to eat, but it's done well enough and taken from the pulp sources that you could find that information. For a book on adding subsystems to a game, there is a ton of new story to add to your games. 5/5
Execution- Expert is done extremely well, but it could use a bit more. I'd like a few more examples with some example characters and groups to help me understand the subsystems it adds a bit more. What's here is good, but it needs a few read-through's to get its point across. Also, I am happy to see art and white space to break up texts, but as with basic, I would like a little more consistency in the art. While in its execution Expert stumbles, Expert falls from perfection to extremely well done. 4.5/5
Summary- I really like this book. Now just like the authors of Basic said, you don't need this book. But, you most likely will want this book. No pulp game could be complete without a battlefield and a fiefdom to command! Now you get nitty-gritty rules for that! I'd like a few more examples and some more art, but overall, this is what a splat book should be. 97%
Originally posted at Throat Punch Games, a new idea everyday!
Product- Shadow, Sword & Spell: Expert
System- 12*
Producer- Rogue Games
Price- ~$5.25 here
TL; DR- A textbook splat book example! 97%
Basics- How about some more Shadow, Sword & Spell? Now ON EXPERT MODE! Expert is the truest definition of a splat book. It's just more of the stuff you want for your S, S&S game. Expert adds rules for everything from managing a kingdom to making new monsters. Expert also adds to the world and expands on the places you can conquer, explore, and control.
Mechanics or Crunch- This book is crunch-tastic. Honestly most of the book is new subsystems to add to your game. These are not mandatory subsystems, but they are ones your GM would have to custom build on the fly if, say, you wanted to tax your fiefdom and raise an army to go conquer your neighbors. Now, these are all the d12 mechanics we know and love from Basic, but now you have a set in stone from the designer's rules for how to do it. Also, rules for monster generation are really useful. 5/5
Theme or Fluff- Expert is larger than Basic, and Basic has to explain how to play the game! That said Expert explains the rest of the world and has maps. I loved how Basic had a world to play in. And now I love that Expert makes the world truly a world. It even expands on all the fiddly bits of the world. It's not down to the level of favorite fish of a region to eat, but it's done well enough and taken from the pulp sources that you could find that information. For a book on adding subsystems to a game, there is a ton of new story to add to your games. 5/5
Execution- Expert is done extremely well, but it could use a bit more. I'd like a few more examples with some example characters and groups to help me understand the subsystems it adds a bit more. What's here is good, but it needs a few read-through's to get its point across. Also, I am happy to see art and white space to break up texts, but as with basic, I would like a little more consistency in the art. While in its execution Expert stumbles, Expert falls from perfection to extremely well done. 4.5/5
Summary- I really like this book. Now just like the authors of Basic said, you don't need this book. But, you most likely will want this book. No pulp game could be complete without a battlefield and a fiefdom to command! Now you get nitty-gritty rules for that! I'd like a few more examples and some more art, but overall, this is what a splat book should be. 97%
Displaying 1 of 1 review